MEDICAL experts yesterday cleared the way for Home Secretary David Blunkett to introduce the first relaxation of UK drug laws for 30 years.

Following a five-month review, the influential Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACDM) recommended that cannabis should be downgraded to a Class C drug, putting it in the same category as steroids and prescription tranquillisers such as valium.

It would mean possession of small amounts would no longer be an arrestable offence although cannabis would not be officially decriminalised.

When Mr Blunkett asked the ACMD to review the status of cannabis in October last year, he said he was "minded" to reclassify but he wanted to hear from the experts.

Their verdict, which was never seriously in doubt, brings reclassifi-cation a significant step closer.

It would be a remarkable turnaround for Labour, who came to power in 1997 promising "zero tolerance" on drugs.

The Government is keen to show that it is relying on the best scientific, medical and police advice to make the decision and Mr Blunkett still wants to wait for the conclusion of a Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry on drugs strategy before making his announcement.

He is also waiting for an evaluation of the pilot policing scheme in Lambeth, south London, in which people possessing small amounts of cannabis are not prosecuted.

That means any announcement by Mr Blunkett on reclassification will have to wait until summer at the earliest.

Last month it was announced that the Government's clinical watchdog is to study the medical use of cannabis, in a move which could see the drug prescribed as a painkiller on the NHS within two years.

In yesterday's report, the ACMD advised that cannabis "is not associated with major health problems for the individual or society".